Barry Davis is extremely client-focused and what is best for them. I highly recommend him.

I reached out to Davis with some questions and he was able to point me in the right direction very helpful and nice man. He was able to recommend me two paralegals. Thanks Davis read more

Mr. Davis was so quick to return my call. He gave me sound advice, helped calm my nerves and was exceptionally professional. His integrity was undeniable in that seeing i would not need his services he didnt try to convince me otherwise but rather connected me with the right people. I highly recommend Mr. Davis. read more

I read his other reviews and I found them interesting. My ex and I used him years ago. Just like some of the other reviewers, we had a very amicable separation. We had already agreed on how to split assets. We already had a working child custody schedule. We didn't want to get into a lawyer fight and was hoping that it would be a fast process. A lot of our stuff had already been hashed out. All we had to do was dot the Is and cross the Ts. It ended up not being a fast process. It didn't take over a year like some others have said but it took longer than expected, which unfortunately put stresses on other parts of my life. I never attributed it to Barry though. It was just how things had to happen. Divorce is a painful and permanent process that can't be rushed. We had to redo our asset split agreement (which had a lot of different random variables to consider) but the initial agreement was done via text and had holes in it that we had to fix up. If we hadn't done that, there would have been resentment and issues that arose later. For our custody schedule, what we had wouldn't work long term and so we had to sort that out. It's easy to come up with a plan that isn't legally binding and sounds good for the moment. It's much harder to come up with a plan that will be filed with the courts and during good and bad times for the next decade or two, will be the fallback plan for any disagreements. Our divorce was over 2 years ago and since then we've both been very flexible, but when we come to a disagreement, we fall back to the judgment. We recently had a disagreement with the custody schedule, had a tight deadline, and came to a standstill, so we reached out to Barry to break it free. He talked with us both privately first, and then brought us in for a face-to-face. He helped make sure we were seeing each other's perspective and that we were both being heard. He sparked some ideas for a compromise. We were able to quickly come to an agreement, which was a minor adjustment to our schedule instead of drastic changes that we were wanting. read more

Divorce. Not a pleasant thing to have to go through. Especially after nineteen years of marriage and one child late into it. Our daughter was turning nine. Wasn't sure how to proceed but knew it was what was best for all of us. I asked friends and heard lots of horror stories about how the only people who make out at the end is the lawyers. With that said and after consulting with several in the South Bay, a friend told me to look into mediation. Mediation? What's that? As it turns out it was the best thing I could have ever done. A friend of a friend recommended Davis Mediation in Manhattan Beach. I was not very optimistic going into it, but Barry made us very comfortable from day one. He walked us through the legal process in a kind, calm language that we could actually understand. The company's fees are extremely reasonable compared to a law firm and I always felt like they were doing the best for us as a family. I don't wish anyone to have to go through this in their live but if you do I would strongly suggest you use mediation. And I would highly recommend Davis Mediation! They turned what could have been a really destructive event into a civil understanding. Thank you Barry for helping me be able to not give up and to move forward!! read more

Very dissatisfied. My ex-wife and I were both completely amicable during our separation, which is why we decided to use mediation rather than the conventional lawyer route. The process took 3+ years of working with Barry Davis to finalize our divorce. Barry comes off as charming and caring at first, and things were moving swiftly in the beginning, but Barry became evasive and even confrontational half way through the process when questioned as to why it was taking so long, what was left to do, and why via phone calls and emails I was not able to contact him for weeks on end. We had invested so much time and money by this point, I did NOT want to start over from the beginning. He was unorganized, and this being the only divorce I had been through I had no idea what the rest of the process entailed or if it could even be transferred to another mediator/lawyer. (FYI, Barry Davis is not a lawyer.) My ex-wife and I just wanted this to be over. We would have an hour+ meeting (at $275 per hour) just to decide who would get the kids on what holidays and birthdays. My ex-wife and I had already agreed on a plan. This should have take 5 minutes max, but Barry insisted we take our time. Barry would contact me in confidentiality to discuss tactics as to issues that my ex-wife was not in accord with. I was appreciative at the time, hoping we were one step closer to completion. In hindsight, I realized he was doing the same with her. This undermined any trust and greatly prolonged the process. Towards the end when we only had one or two topics to finalize, we would have a meeting just to discuss what the next meeting should address. When I spoke up to say that we have all the information we need to make final decisions, he insisted that we not be hasty and we should schedule another meeting to make those decision. His paperwork was disheveled, constantly asking us for notes on previous meetings. I feel this could have gone on indefinitely. Also, his recommended paralegal was very sweet, but submitted the wrong information to the courts, more than once. You are more than welcome to contact me with any questions. PS. To the best of my knowledge, the positive review above was NOT left by an actual client of Barry Davis or Davis Mediation but rather someone who met him at a convention, and the wording in the review was changed recently to disguise that. read more

Mediation worked for us. Divorce can be difficult and expensive. Working with lawyers can be adversarial by nature. After almost twenty years of marriage we decided to split up and we initially thought we could do it ourselves, but the papers and laws are complicated, the division of property is subjective, establishing custody and support can be daunting. We realized we needed help, we decided to work with a mediator, we found Barry Davis on the web. He was professional, impartial and seemed to really care about working toward an amicable settlement. No he is not a lawyer, but we did not want to hire lawyers. We wanted to speak with our own voices to split our assets and arrange fair visitation and support that we could all live with, Barry helped us do that. Reviews may be suspect, often glowing or caustic. This is neither. We are just two people that found ourselves in a life changing situation. We needed someone to help us work through the process. Barry did that. We all worked together with a positive attitude, yet there were many contentious moments. Barry kept us centered and we got through it. At $250.00 an hour it wasn't cheap. Divorce is not cheap. If we each hired a lawyer it would have likely cost so much more. ($5,000. a piece just to retain services). Beyond money what is really important is a focus on the fragmented family that will endure. We settled our differences with minimal impact on our children. Today we are both on friendly speaking terms and we share a mutual respect. Our children sense our peace and it means the world to them. A pair of lawyers would not likely have brought us the same result. Four years later we see we have many issues to deal with in the future not covered in the divorce settlement including college expenses, kid's travel, etc. We will work through each of these issues and achieve same positive outcome because of the tone Barry helped us establish in 2012. If ever we do find ourselves at an impasse, we are comforted that we can look to Barry to help us work it out. One last note Barry recommended a fabulous Paralegal to package all the paperwork for the judge. This is the most critical aspect to the process and Colleen Teles of Affordable Legal Services did that. She is kind, easy going and very professional. We would highly recommend her to anyone in need of this service. Update: I am a real person sharing my honest story. Really would a shill rate 4 stars? There is a negative review from a client on Feb 2017. This man is entitled to his opinion based on his experience as am I. He made an outright claim that my review was a fraudulent entry "from a colleague met at a convention". This is an obsurd accusation, pure fantasy. His words are insulting and ridiculous. Really cannot figure why someone would go there. read more

Barry was made a challenging process as simple as it could be. He was professional and patient and was available when needed. He guided us through the process with respect and kindness. He is definitely someone to consider when going through a mediation. read more

We selected Mr Davis as our mediator based upon a single reference. His demeanor is professional and pleasant. Through his services we developed a lengthy and very detailed judgment. It took us well over a year to create the draft, much longer than he predicted. It then took several months with the lawyers before it was finally filed with the court -- but that's another story (choose your lawyers wisely). Our situation involved no minor children or other complications, it was just an allocation of assets. In principle it was straightforward. I have seen other judgments which only required a half page to address splitting finances. So why was ours so long and take so much time? The biggest factor by far was my ex-spouse. He was very patient with her; as he needed to be. She would have challenged the best mediator, and I appreciate that he took on that challenge and continued to work with us until we had a draft judgment. At the same time I found Barry to be less organized than ideal and asked that he bring more direction and focus to the sessions. He was very diligent in assuring that full agreement was reached between the parties. This is very important, yet even my ex agreed that he sometimes had us revisit issues more times than necessary. An oversight to put us in contact with his paralegal early in the process to get our disclosures filed cost us serial time and contributed to the delay in getting the final judgment drafted. His frequent vacations also contributed delays. As the process dragged on, and to his credit, I appreciated that he made himself available during his vacations. In the end, we had a very detailed judgment. The right amount of detail is subjective. Barry is the right guy for you if you want every possibility addressed with documented agreements. Personally, I think we overachieved. But the bottom line is that Barry got us through a difficult mediation and helped us draft a judgment that should serve us well -- and that's what a mediator should do. read more

Barry of Davis Mediation is a pleasure to work with! I have not met many mediators that have a background in marriage & family therapy. He is truly committed to keeping the kids out of the middle during the entire divorce process. He is easy to work with and gets results. read more

I must say. I was very skeptical about mediation versus hiring a real lawyer. After the third or forth session, I walked out, fired Barry and have an appointment with a certified Family law practice lawyer in the morning. I felt that Barry was one sided, and only interested in keeping me as a client to continue my financial obligation as a client. This last and final meeting, he apologized for loosing our contract papers, requested that we resign the documents and conveniently pointed out two changes from the previous contract. The new one had us sign that we acknowledge that Barry isn't a lawyer. Interesting, since our conversations included that very topic. Lastly, It isn't very reassuring to hear Barry say, "I don't know, I haven't ever heard of that situation come up before," When it pertains to my life and moving forward. I didn't waste the time and money as it may seem. Rather it was an expensive learning lesson. Please let it be known that I was a former client. My opinions were based on my personal experience as a client. I am not a coworker nor a behavior health worker such as an MFT like those who are leaving positive comments for Barry based on meeting him at a seminar or other non client based events. It is your money people, choose wisely, and spend wisely. Adam K. Former Unhappy, Dissatisfied Client read more

I started working with Barry since the beginning of 2012.We are now in Feb of 2013,and I am no closer to finalizing my divorce,but I am about 3K in. My last meeting with him was in July. I emailed him in Nov, with no response. Out of the blue he contacts me, 6 months since last meeting, to let me know that he reviewed my records, and that it took 1 hr so I owe him 250.00 for his services. Poor business etiquette if you ask me! read more

Barry was very fair, professional and easy to work with. He kept us on track and focused on what really matters. When needed, he reminded us to keep the best interest of the kids as the focus and guided us through the difficult process. I highly recommend his services. read more

**THIS IS AN ACTUAL REVIEW FROM AN ACTUAL CLIENT** Choosing Barry Davis of Davis Mediation was, in my experience going through divorce, the BEST decision to proceed through such a difficult season. When you compare the cost of going through mediation verses enlisting attorneys, mediation is hands down the most cost effective option. With Davis Mediation, only 15 sessions was required at less than $10K. That's a fraction of what it costs throwing your money away with attorneys. And while these sessions should have spanned only about a year, the timing for my case took two years to complete because of a unique and difficult "self-inflicted" circumstance NOT caused by Mr. Davis. Make no mistake, it takes a special person to work with divorcing couples who are varied and unique in their own personalities AND are also dealing with their own pain and whatever other issues they bring with them as a result of a difficult marriage. Barry Davis was caring and compassionate to me and my ex as his clients. He treated us as people and not just clients. In that vane, he was also fair and honest in mediating my case. While I didn't get 100% of what I wanted, in the end, I feel strongly that my four children were given the best result given the natural unwanted circumstances that comes with divorce. In addition to speaking highly of Mr. Davis' ability to work in favor of both his clients, he is also networked with other professionals who can help in the process -- paralegals and even counselors; both of which I took advantage and benefited. If anyone out there would like to contact me, I am more than willing to expand on my review. While I don't wish for divorce on any couple and most certainly when children are involved, the grim reality is that divorce happens all too frequently. To try and minimize the almost certain financial destruction and emotional devastation, I definitely recommend the services of Barry Davis and Davis Mediation. read more

I can't say enough about Barry Davis Mediation and Barry Davis himself. Nobody wants to find themselves going through a divorce especially with kids. Emotions run so high and the stress is off the charts and financially your entire worlds gets turned upside down. I am so happy that my ex-wife and I at least agreed to go to see Barry. He came highly recommended and it was the best decision I made during the entire process. First and foremost, BARRY CARES - ABOUT HIS CLIENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN! He cares about finding an honest and fair resolution for both sides. Just as important he kept our kids in the forefront and advocated for them as much as trying to resolve our grown up issues. It wasn't easy and there were some heated exchanges but Barry always kept his cool and even worked with us individually and by phone when needed. The end result speaks for itself as both my ex and I have moved on with our lives and we have a structure that Barry helped us create that we can count on to guide us through raising two kids in separate households and resolving future conflicts. On behalf of my family I want to just say thanks to Barry. I can't wait to enjoy the holiday season with my boys and loved ones and Barry helped make this new life possible. If you find yourself in the unfortunate circumstance of going through a divorce CALL BARRY DAVIS FIRST before you even think of a lawyer. You get so much more and will save a bunch of money too! Good luck to you all and thanks for all you do Barry. read more